Why the Supreme Court's Plan to Reappoint Retired Judges Faces Opposition

CJI Surya Kant Discusses Challenges in Reappointing Retired Judges

New Delhi: On Thursday, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant highlighted that the Supreme Court's initiative to reintroduce retired judges as ad hoc judges in high courts has been hindered by resistance from bar associations.

CJI Kant noted, "Our bench, including Chief Justice Bobde and Justice Kaul, aimed to revive the practice of appointing retired judges as ad hoc judges. However, the pushback from bar associations halted our efforts. They began passing resolutions against it, and no chief justice would want to upset the Bar."

The Chief Justice, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was addressing a case concerning the seniority of judicial officers in Rajasthan.

According to Article 224A, there exists a constitutional provision that permits the temporary reappointment of retired High Court judges as judges of High Courts.

CJI Kant also recounted a situation where two judicial officers from Haryana and Punjab left their positions after seven to eight years due to new pension regulations.

"These were highly capable officers who had previously practiced in the High Court. After several years, they chose to resign. One of them shared with me, 'Due to the new pension rules, my retirement pension will be limited to Rs 25,000. How can I manage on that? It's better for me to return to my practice,'" the CJI recalled.

Senior advocate P S Patwalia, who was representing in the case, urged the court to look into the pension concerns for judicial officers.

With a backlog exceeding 1.8 million criminal cases, the Supreme Court had permitted high courts to appoint ad hoc judges, limited to 10% of the court's total sanctioned strength, back on January 30 of the previous year.